Bible Scrolls Burn in Bnei Brak Synagogue Fire; No Foul Play

Three people were lightly hurt in Vizhnitz Synagogue on Torat Yisrael street.. Electrical malfunction suspected as the cause of the fire.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 9/23/2010, 11:03 PM / Last Update: 9/23/2010, 11:07 PM

Moshe Veitzman, ZAKA

A fire broke out Thursday evening in the Vizhnitz Synagogoue on Torat Yisrael Street in Bnei Brak, during Sukkot services. Fire crews evacuated the congregants safely but several Torah scrolls were consumed in the fire.

Moshe Veitzman, a rescue volunteer, told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service that three people were lightly hurt and evacuated to hospitals. The congregants tried to save burning Torah scrolls from the Torah Ark but were only able to save three of the scrolls that were housed there.

The current assessment is that the fire was caused by a malfunction in the electric fan inside the Ark.

Fire crews put out a fire that broke out in a residential apartment in Petach Tikva, near Tel Aviv. No one was hurt.

Arsonists set fire to the “Forest of Peace” between the neighborhoods of Abu Tor and Armon HaNatziv in southern Jerusalem. Local residents say there is no doubt that Arabs are behind the crime. Fire crews managed to control the fore. There were no reports of casualties.